Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX
Short Synopsis: A red-haired girl throws herself headlong into the cockpit of a mobile suit to fight against her space colony’s military police force.
Wooper: There are two major categories of Gundam series: Universal Century (the long-running timeline established by the original anime) and everything else. GQuacks is neither; it’s set in a parallel version of the Universal Century, where Zeon (the bad guys) prevailed in the all-important One Year War. This first episode offers scant details about that world-altering change – and somehow provides even less background on its red-haired protagonist. I don’t even think we got her name, much less anything that would explain how she so easily ditches her responsibilities and throws in her lot with an illegal mobile suit battle team. The unanswered questions about who she is and what motivates her to defy the military police were my biggest source of struggle while watching this premiere, though GQuacks certainly isn’t the first Gundam series to withhold crucial context at its start. I’m not wild about the ultra-modern musical direction, either, especially during Machu and Nyaan’s first meeting (thanks for providing their names, Wikipedia!) and Machu’s first time piloting the titular white Gundam. In my mind, those insert songs dominated their respective scenes in unhealthy fashion, since the visuals are the real star of the show here, and the more time we get to admire the youthful character designs and sci-fi infrastructure in isolation, the better. I’m interested to learn more, but this isn’t the start I’d hoped for.
Potential: 55%
Lenlo: I won’t lie, I don’t know a whole lot about Gundam. The only Gundam I’ve watched at all actually was the recent Mercury one and Gundam Wing back on Toonami, so a lot of the history and mentions like “Captain Char” and “Zeon” that I’m sure are exciting for long time fans are lost on me. That said, I still enjoyed GQuuuuuuX quite a bit. The designs were great, I enjoyed how simple and expressive they were, reminding me of Sun and Moon I think it was. The Gundams themselves aren’t bad either, the CGI is definitely noticeable in most shots but they get plenty of 2D animated ones as well. Story wise I liked the lead, she’s a bratty spitfire who isn’t afraid to go out and pick fights if she sees a reason to, very different from Suletta in Mercury. Do I understand everything that’s happening? Not really, there’s some obvious national tensions with refugees and spacians and such going on, but it seems like the series will be more about underground giant robot battles than intergalactic wars. Either way though, I had fun, the OST was a bop, I’m down to make this my third ever Gundam.
Potential: 65%
Apocalypse Hotel
Short Synopsis: The manager of a robot-operated hotel tries to keep her head on straight 100 years after humanity’s abandonment of Earth.
Lenlo: I was not… enthused by Apocalypse Hotel. The premise seems good, the last hotel in the world after an apocalypse because it’s run almost entirely by robots? That’s a solid idea, and the opening few minutes where it juxtaposes a hotel ad with news footage of the end of the world was a great intro. But much like last year’s Shuumatsu Train, it feels like that setting/idea gets dropped rather quickly for a very different show. One centered on the absurd comedy of a bunch of robots going about their daily lives after the apocalypse rather than any kind of exploration on humanity and how/why we ruined the planet as we did. Like… Did the concierge really need to be a cute girl while all the rest of inhuman machines? There is a moment halfway through with the discovery of the Driller Robot, and the reveal of the pile of other “deceased” staff, that gives me a bit of hope for the show, like it’s taking the long route to some kind of Wall-E sort of story where they find connection with each other and all that. But I’m not sure I can sit through another Shuumatsu Train where nothing really happens and the outside world is just set dressing for a mediocre slice-of-life.
Potential: 20%
Wooper: The post-opening-montage shot of the Gingarou Hotel’s robotic doorman overheating and collapsing in front of his station was a great indicator of this show’s M.O. What we have here is a comedy underpinned by existential dread – as the doorman later explains, despite recognizing the futility of his primary function, he wouldn’t be who he is if not for doors to open. The hotel’s humanoid acting manager succumbs to a similar horror partway through this episode, as the absence of a shampoo hat in one of the rooms sends her into a humorous spiral of negativity regarding her reason for existing. One by one, the robots who have kept their workplace guest-ready have ceased to function over the last century, leaving only the small team we meet in this premiere. Their designs are very cute (the quasi-sentient luggage cart is my favorite, but I also love the competitiveness of the two cleaning robots), and the concept of their electronic chatter going untranslated is a great one, as it creates room for the manager to interpret and then bossily override their thoughts. They’re fun enough that I’d have followed the show even without any guests to populate the story, but we get one right at the end, and not the sort for which the hotel was designed. I’m in for a full season, so I look forward to seeing how the Gingarou’s staff adapts to their new clientele!
Potential: 70%
Uchuujin MuuMuu
Short Synopsis: An alien cat comes to Earth to study Earth’s technology in order to save its planet.
Mario: Let me start by saying what I like about this episode the most: the background designs are easy on the eyes. It’s not showy – this show falls into a low-budget territory – but it’s nicely integrated to the series. It has an alien cat who wears a tie and likes to take apart appliances to see how they work (and has no idea how to put them back together). It’s a nice enough idea, but I have a hard time caring for any of these cast members. Their theory that “cats are the owners of the Earth”, likewise, is amusing in concept but doesn’t really have an impact. It’s that kind of show, inoffensive but also plain and forgettable as well.
Potential: 5%
The post Spring 2025 Impressions: Gundam GQuuuuuuX, Apocalypse Hotel, Uchuujin MuuMuu appeared first on Star Crossed Anime.
